Tag Archives: raw

Looking for a sure-to-win way of getting more greens into your family’s diet? Well, try these kale chips! This crunchy and savoury snack conquers any mean craving for a potato chip. Guaranteed.

Our family has been making these kale chips for the past few years now. So addictive. Seriously. Just try stopping at one. And, just to brag a little, these chips have been kid-approved by all the little people who have ventured through our house. 🙂

You’ll find this recipe in Brendan Brazier’s book Whole Foods to Thrive: Nutrient-Dense, Plant-Based Recipes for Peak Health. Another kale favourite of mine from the same book is Brendan’s Quick Kale and Avocado Salad.

If you don’t own the book, you’ll find the recipe here. We make our chips in my Excalibur dehydrator, but the oven works just as well. The recipe is perfect. In my last batch (pictured above), I added a small handful of hemp seeds – just to kick this nutrient-dense snack up a notch. I also doubled the recipe.

Tried another kale chip recipe that you love? There really are some great recipes out there. Care to share your favourite? We have a wonderful supply of organic and local kale in our stores right now. I’m wanting to make me some more!

It’s about time I shared with you the main reason for me being so inconsistent and sporadic with my posts these days (by the way, A BIG thank you to many of you who have written asking me ‘what’s up?’).

Well, I am thrilled to announce that I have gone back to school! 🙂 Not as a teacher, as some of you would suspect (I work as an occasional school teacher in my small town). I am back to school as a student and loving every minute of it. It really feels good to hit the books once again. Most importantly, it feels good to finally work on completing something I started nearly 15 years ago. By the end of 2015, I hope to have earned my certificate in Holistic Nutritionfrom TheCanadian School ofNatural Nutrition. Yay!!

Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. ~ Earl Nightingale

I do realize that earning my Holistic Nutrition Certificate may involve some blood, sweat and tears, but I’m up for the challenge. At 45 years of age, it’s been some time since I’ve had to take tests and write reports. Thankfully, my busy family is on board and they are giving me all the love and support I need to fulfill my goals.

I have many interests and hobbies and one of them is this food blog. While I study, I will continue to post all the delicious gluten-free and plant-based dishes that are palate-approved by my family and friends. However, for the next little while my posts will be a little “here and there”. If time goes by between posts, as it so easily does, please know that I will be back!

If you haven’t already done so, I would love for you to like my Facebook page. I tend to use Facebook to share tidbits of interesting health and nutrition info, as well as recipes so worth trying. Lately, I’ve been inspired by the many vegan athletes fulfilling their dreams. You’ll see a few of those stories on my fb page, too.

Now…back to the books, but first I’ll whip up a shake.

PINEAPPLE PROTEIN SHAKE (from Ani’s 15-Day Fat Blast)

1 1/2 cups frozen pineapple

1 tablespoon flax meal

1 cup filtered water (I used coconut water)

2 pitted dates

1 teaspoon spirulina*

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Ani Phyo, an award-winning chef and raw food guru, says it will keep in your fridge for two days. I seem to drink it within minutes! 😉

* Spirulina is a microscopic blue-green algae. But don’t let that turn you away! This superfood contains high amounts of protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. You can find it in many natural health food stores. I have seen it in powder form or in pressed tablets. I like to purchase it as a powder, so that I can add it to a variety of recipes. On its own, it tastes like seaweed. If this is not your choice flavour, rest assure – you will not taste it in fruit smoothies like this one!!

I am so excited to share these raw,vegan and gluten-free snacks with you! If you are like me and love a good cup of Chai tea on a chilly November morning, then you will love these slightly sweet and spicy crackers.

BANANA-CHAI, CHIA AND SESAME SEED CRACKERS

3 very ripe bananas

1 tablespoon cardamom

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cloves

1/4 cup pure maple syrup or agave syrup (optional)*

1 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup sesame seeds, soaked for 4 hours and rinsed

sea salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper

Using a food processor, blend bananas, spices and syrup. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and add chia seeds, sesame seeds and salt and pepper. Mix well. Pour batter evenly on Paraflexx lined dehydrator trays. Set dehydrator to 112 degrees Celsius and dehydrate for approximately 12 hours.

I served these crackers to my kids this morning for breakfast. You may want to try pairing a few with a pear and almond smoothie. 🙂

*If you have been following me for some time, you’ll know that I have a tendency to sweeten some of my dishes with pure maple syrup. Maple syrup is one of my choice sweeteners because it is full of vitamins and minerals. I also adore its distinct flavour. I live in the heart of Ontario’s Maple Sugar Capital, so I am very fortunate to have this heavenly sweetener at my fingertips.

However, if you are at all concerned with using maple syrup because of its high glycemic index then you can certainly leave it out. My previous attempts at these crackers did not contain maple syrup or any other sweetener. They were good, but I found that maple syrup highlighted the chai flavour of these crackers perfectly.

This post is going to be short, but sweet. I made these for a very long car trip that I will be taking tomorrow morning. I thought these tasty fudge-like morsels would be a perfect pick-me-up for my long haul.

For the next 3 weeks, I will be away from my computer, so I will not be making any posts. Instead, I will be engaged in some kayaking, snorkeling and some all around good outdoor fun with a few very adventurous family members. Reading is definitely in order. I packed the newest addition to my library, Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition. 🙂

These raw balls were inspired by Alicia Silverstone’s Raw Balls. They are quick and easy to put together and are forgiving if you desire to get “creative” in the kitchen. If you don’t like getting your hands messy, then ask the kids to do it!

For the Road Raw Balls

1/2 cup raw almonds

1/2 cup pitted dates

a little less than 1/2 cup raw carob powder

a little less than 1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup raw almond butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup raw cashews

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

some shredded unsweetened coconut on a plate for rolling

In a food processor, process almonds until coarsely ground. Add the dates and pulse a few times. Add the carob powder, maple syrup, almond butter, vanilla, and salt. Process until the mixture is thick and smooth. Add the cashews and sunflower seeds and pulse a few times. I like the cashews and seeds to remain in chunks.

Roll the mixture into approximately 12 balls with your hands. Roll the balls on a plate of shredded coconut. Place balls in a sealed container in the freezer until hardened.

It’s been exactly one week since I completed Natasha Kyssa’s 28-day Simply Raw Detox program. I ran into a friend and follower over the weekend and she asked if I had a big celebration to mark the end of this raw food cleanse. I told her I did. The truth is I celebrated with a bottle (well half) of kombucha and a big plate of greens and sprouts.

I feel so absolutely wonderful from eating raw foods for the past 28 days that I hesitate to veer too far away from the raw food diet. I have more energy and focus, especially during those long afternoons. My fingernails are long and strong instead of chipped and peeling and, as an added bonus, I dropped a couple of pounds. 🙂

Natasha Kyssa’s program put me back on track by breaking the bad habits I acquired over the winter months. It helped me recognize the patterns of these bad habits and the reasons for particular food cravings. The great thing now is that I have no cravings! I am eating to live and not living to eat.

Yesterday, my husband and I took our eldest daughter to an event in downtown Ottawa. When it was finished, it was about 3 pm and we were thinking of places we could stop to get a bite to eat. It was a hot and sunny day and my daughter asked for a fruit smoothie, so we stopped at the perfect place!

SimplyRaw Express is located on Wellington Street in our nation’s capital – Ottawa. Not only juices and smoothies, this quaint eatery has a good selection of salads, wraps, and desserts. Guess who made our smoothies? Natasha Kyssa!

We enjoyed a Mango Lassi, Strawberry Fields, and Peaceful Warrior smoothie and split a mexican wrap stuffed with black beans, veggies, and cilantro. Absolutely mouth-watering! I am now on a mission to replicate these flavours at home. By the way, mango and parsley are an awesome combination.

This was my treat this afternoon – to share with my husband, regrettably. 😉 This is SimplyRaw’s Mocha Cheezecake. Who needs dairy or sugar in their cheezecake? This was freakin’ delicious!

Like this:

I had the greatest intentions last week of converting my kitchen into one mean sprouting and fermentation facility. If you recall, my plan was to embrace my third go of Natasha Kyssa’s The Simply Raw Living Foods Detox with enthusiasm and my utmost devotion. I will be honest. This past week was not a good week. Life just got in the way or, as the saying goes life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

I won’t bore you with all the things that went wrong this past week. Let’s just say I was a jack-of-all-trades for about 22 hours each and every day. 😉

Week 3 of my cleanse had me introduce more living foods to my diet. I ate a lot of sprouts, dark leafy greens, green smoothies and juices, and shots of wheatgrass juice and E3 Live. E3 Live is a frozen/liquid form of blue-green algae that comes from ocean water. You can read more about this superfood here.

I reduced my consumption of extra virgin olive oil which meant that my salads on most days were topped with lemon juice only. By the end of the week, I was getting pretty darn tired of sprouts and salads. I wanted Natasha’s seed cheese and puddings but because of my hectic week, I only had time to throw (I do mean this literally) greens and sprouts on my plate. I was also feeling quite irritable as I was making the kids their dinner (so much for cooking with love), as I wanted to dive right into their meal of soups and pasta.

So, what did I do? I turned to my support group on Facebook and ranted. Then I cheated. (gasp!)

I had “lightly” steamed asparagus a couple of nights on my salad. Asparagus is by far a favourite of mine. I then met a friend at a local coffee shop and ordered an herbal tea and had a couple of her raw power balls that are to die for. Her power balls are raw, but they contain maple syrup and almond butter – both foods not allowed this week. The following day I returned to the same coffee shop with a friend and ordered a black coffee. Gosh it was good. On Sunday, the last day of week 3, my daughter and I met some friends for our annual pre-Stars On Ice lunch. The restaurant of choice was Japanese. I ate more than my share of avocado and sweet potato tempura sushi with a side of my very own pot of green tea.

So much for following the plan 100 per cent. 😦

I’m not going to beat myself up over it though. Today is the 23rd day of this 28-day plan. I will get back on the horse to finish this week proudly.

I will end this post by sharing with you my breakfast, mid-morning snack, and lunch. All of this with a lot of water in between.

As I end this, the sun is shining and the temperature outside has finally reached a normal high. A walk into town might be nice. I think a little fresh air, sunshine, and exercise will help me stay positive. 🙂